


Hanukkah Miracles

by chasethewind



Series: Chase's 12 Days of Christmas 2017 [6]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, F/M, Prompt Fic, Prompt Fill, Robbery, Shooting, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-20
Updated: 2017-12-20
Packaged: 2019-02-17 12:46:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13077183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chasethewind/pseuds/chasethewind
Summary: Anonymous: You work at a shop that was robbed, I’m the one unsuspecting customer who’s just found you bleeding on the floor, Jesus Christ, what do I do, please don’t die.





	Hanukkah Miracles

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry for the late post. Life got in the way yesterday.

Felicity has just one stop left to make that evening: the coffee shop she frequented after work with the cute barista. She always enjoyed chatting with him and hoped he was still working considering it was later than usual. Meetings had kept her from going home at her usual time, which meant the coffee shop probably wouldn’t be as crowded that night.

As she entered through the front door, the little bell at the top chimed, signaling her entrance. Usually she was met with a warm “hello” from the barista, but it was eerily silent inside the little space. Felicity glanced around, looking for any signs of life, but found none. Maybe he was in the back?

“Hello!” she called out, but there was no answer. Peeking behind the counter, she found what looked like a crime scene. Thick, bloody streaks covered the floor, and as she tracked it toward the back of the coffee shop, she found its source. She’d found the barista.

“Oh, my god!” Felicity cried out as she rushed to the other end of the counter. Kneeling down beside his prone form, she looked him over to find a gunshot wound to the stomach and one to the shoulder. With a shaky hand, she reached out to check for a pulse.

“H-help,” came his weak response as his eyes fluttered open when she touched his neck.

Felicity wanted to jump back, but she stayed calm. “It’s okay,” she replied, her voice coming just as shaky as her hands. “I’m here to help you. What’s your name?”

“O-Oliver,” he breathed.

“Hi, Oliver, I’m Felicity.”

“I-I know y-you. You… come in… every night,” Oliver whispered.

“Yes! That’s me! The girl who comes in every night!” Felicity wanted to keep him talking as she assessed his injuries before calling 9-1-1. “Oliver, can you tell me what happened?” she asked.

“Armed… Armed robbery,” he mumbled. “Took everything… in… register then… shot me.”

His pulse was weakening with every breath he took. Felicity pulled out her phone and quickly dialed for help. “9-1-1, what’s your emergency?”

“There was an armed robbery at Star City Cafe and the barista’s been shot!” she nearly yelled over the phone. Felicity wished she hadn’t waited so long to call.

“You said Star City Cafe, correct?” the operator asked.

“Yes, on 52nd and Mission, right by the Queen Consolidated building.”

“Is the barista awake and alert?”

“He’s fading fast. You need to get an ambulance here now or he’s going to die!”

“Ma’am, I need you to stay calm. Everything’s going to be okay. I’ve already sent out a request for an ambulance. It should be there in the next five minutes.”

Five minutes? Felicity didn’t know if Oliver could hang on for that much longer. He was so cold and so pale, and there was so much blood pooled around him. It scared her to think she’d watch this man die.

“Oliver?” She stroked her thumb along his jaw and his pale blue eyes slowly looked up to gaze back at her. “The operator said it would be five more minutes. Can you hold on for five more minutes?” Felicity asked.

“I don’t wanna die,” he mumbled. “My sister… My son…”

Oh, god, he had a son?!

Felicity put down her phone and scooted a little closer to him. “Listen to me, Oliver,” she said. “Everything will be okay. Just listen to my voice. Tell me about your son.”

“He’s ten,” he whispered. “His mother just died in a car accident last year. He can’t lose me too.” Tears began to pool in his eyes as he stared back at her. His bloody hand came up to grab hers. Felicity gripped it tight, giving him whatever comfort he needed.

“He won’t lose you,” she proclaimed. “Just keep talking to me and we won’t have that problem.”

“Okay,” Oliver weakly replied.

“Tell me more about your family. What’s your son’s name? How old is your sister? Do you have any holiday traditions? Because, it’s the holiday season so I figure you gotta have some kind of tradition. I don’t really have one aside from lighting my menorah since I don’t actually celebrate Christmas, but it is a magical time of the year and I still get people presents,” Felicity rambled on, trying to keep the conversation going.

“William… My son’s name is William,” he wheezed. “Thea, my sister, she-she’s twenty three. We’re supposed to…” Oliver took a shallow, shaky breathe. “We’re supposed to set up the tree tonight. That’s our tradition. Tree, lights, ornaments, mistletoe, everything.”

“I’ll make sure you get home to do all that,” she assured Oliver even though she had no idea how he would survive this. Her heart went out to him. Even though their little chats had never gone beyond work, hearing about his family and knowing what she knew now, it made Felicity’s soul ache.

“Felicity,” he breathed. Gripping her hand tighter, he said, “Felicity, please tell my son and my sister I’m sorry.”

“No, no, no!” she exclaimed, her free hand coming to rest against his stubbled cheek. “No, Oliver, you have to hang on!” Somewhere off in the distance, Felicity could hear the sirens wailing. “The ambulance is so close. Please! Just hang on. Hang on for William. Hang on for Thea. Hang on for me. Please don’t die!”

Not a moment too soon, the paramedics burst through the door along with several police officers. She was asked to move, which Felicity gladly did, allowing them to do their job.

One of the police officers, Detective Drake, pulled her aside and started asking her questions about what had happened. Felicity answered to the best of her knowledge, but she really didn’t know much aside from what Oliver had told her. Detective Drake let her go, but not without giving Felicity her card just in case.

Barely a minute had gone by before the paramedics wheeled Oliver out of the coffee shop in a gurney. Felicity was given permission to ride with him to the hospital, but when they got there, she was pushed off to the side and told only family was allowed to see him after that point.

* * *

The wait for news was excruciating. Not knowing whether Oliver was alive killed Felicity. She had seen several women with children come through the emergency room doors, but none looked young enough to be Thea and William.

It wasn’t until a little past ten that a young, dark haired woman came rushing through the doors and straight to the counter. “Where’s my brother!” she practically shouted at the poor receptionist at the front desk.

“Ma’am, please, calm down. I can’t help you if you’re yelling,” the receptionist calmly replied.

“Oliver. Oliver Queen. That’s my brother. Is he okay? Is he alive?!”

After a few taps to the keyboard, the receptionist replied, “Yes, he’s alive, but he’s currently in surgery. I won’t know much more until he’s out.”

“Oh, god, why did it have to be him? I told him not to take that extra shift, that I could cover the cost of gifts for William if he needed me to, but my brother can be so goddamn stubborn sometimes,” the young woman began to weep.

Felicity was at her side a few moments later. “You’re Thea, Oliver’s brother, right?” she asked.

“Yeah, and who are you?” Thea shot back, eyeing Felicity suspiciously.

“Felicity,” she answered. “I found your brother and called 9-1-1.”

Thea’s eyes went wide and suddenly, she was throwing her arms around Felicity’s shoulders. “Thank you!” she cried. “The police told me someone had found him. Thank you so much! I don’t know how I’ll ever repay you.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Felicity replied, awkwardly patting Thea’s back. “I was just doing what anyone else would have done in my situation.”

Thea held onto her for several moments longer. She pulled away after realizing just how strange it must have been. “Sorry for making that weird. I really didn’t mean to. I’m just so glad someone found him, you know?” she said.

“Yeah, I know,” Felicity answered with a warm smile.

“Family of Oliver Queen,” a man in blue scrubs announced as he stepped through the double doors leading back to the emergency room.

“Here!” Thea called back as she practically ran up to him, grabbing Felicity’s hand and dragging her with.

“Please, come with me,” he said as he opened the emergency room doors with his keycard. The doctor led them back to a private room and sat them down. “Mrs. Queen,” he began to say.

“I’m his sister,” Thea answered.

“Oh, I’m sorry about that,” he quickly apologized. He turned to Felicity and asked, “Are you Mrs. Queen, then?”

“No, just an acquaintance,” Felicity answered.

There was a confused look on the doctor’s face that Thea quickly rectified, “She saved him by calling 9-1-1. I figured it was only fair that she be here with me to hear the news.”

The doctor nodded. “Well, Miss Queen, your brother made it through surgery to repair to hole in his abdomen from the gunshot wound. His shoulder faired a bit better and only needed stitches. He did lose a lot of blood, though, so it’s touch and go for the time being until he wakes up, but I do expect him to make a full recovery.”

Thea sighed deeply in relife. “Thank you, doctor,” she said, standing up to give him a bear hug.

With not much else left to tell them, the doctor made his way back into the emergency room, leaving Thea and Felicity alone in the private room.

“Thank you, Felicity,” Thea said as she leaned over to give her a hug as well. “You saved my brother and that means the world to me. How can I ever repay you?” She started to grab her purse and pull out her pocket book when Felicity stopped her.

“It was nothing, really,” she replied. “I was just doing what anyone else would do. Or, well, at least anyone with a sense of decency, unlike the bastard who shot your brother.”

“Thank you,” Thea said yet again. “Thank you so much, Felicity. If there’s anything I can do for you, don’t ever hesitate to ask.” The younger Queen handed Felicity her card.

She put it in her pocket for safe keeping before standing up. “It was really nice to meet you,” Felicity said.

“Thank you, again, from the bottom of my heart.” Thea couldn’t seem to stop apologizing, but Felicity quickly put a stop to it.

“I have to get going,” she replied. “Tell your brother I’m glad that he’s going to be okay.”

“Of course,” Thea said.

With one more short hug, Felicity stepped out of the little private room and into the hallway. She followed the signs back to the hospital’s lobby and hailed a cab to take her back to her car. Felicity spent the ride thinking about Oliver and his family and how much of a miracle it was that he survived the shooting. Maybe she’d come back the next day with flowers. Or maybe she’d send a gift.

Whatever the case may be, she was glad she’d been at the coffee shop that night, otherwise, he might not have made it. A Hanukkah miracle, indeed.


End file.
